This page is dedicated to the single greatest Christmas album ever made, Jimmy Webb's (words & music) The Animals Christmas . The album is performed by Amy Grant, Art Garfunkel, The London Symphony Orchestra, and Kings College School Choir.
I first came into contact with the music from this album during an Amy Grant Christmas special. The music from the special was composed both of what would later become The Animals Christmas and Amy Grant's first Christmas album A Christmas Album . My father found the CD in 1986 in a "Christmas bin" in a store near the town we were living in at the time. He bought it because of "Words From An Old Spanish Carol", which had been on the special was on the album, and he figured that if you took that, the fact that Art Garfunkel and Jimmy Webb (who had also been part of the special) were both on it- it seemed to be a pretty decent bet that the album would contain the other songs that the choir had performed that night.
My dad managed to track down two more copies of the Animal's Christmas, so we finally have a lyrics sheet! Yay! So I went through and fixed any mistakes I found, and added in the parts I had omitted (those pesky British accents! ;)
Unfortunately, and for reasons that I don't understand, The Animals Christmas is no longer commercially produced. There are some people out there, though, who must know that my family and I aren't insane to love this album so much. My intentions are for this page to provide both the lyrics from the album and some of the poems that the songs are based on, and to give a brief overview of why I like each of the songs, and hopefully find some links to other pages with information on this wonderful holiday album.
Track Title:
1. Annunciation
2. Creatures of the Field
3. Just A Simple Little Tune
4. The Decree
5. Incredible Phat
6. The Friendly Beasts
7. Song of the Camels
8. Words from an old Spanish Carol
9. Carol of the Birds
10. The Frog
11. Herod
12. Wild Geese
Part I
**Track 1 is called The Annunciation :
"Hail! Hail Thou!
Hail thou who art highly favoured
Hail! Hail Thou!
The Lord is with thee
"Blessed art thou among women
Bessed art thou most of all.
Thou shall bring forth a son
And you will call His name-
-Jesus!
He shall be great
And shall be called the Son of the Highest
And of his kingdom shall there be-
No ending to his kingdom
Never will there be an end"
"How can this be I know no man?
How can this be?
How can this be?"
"The Holy Ghost shall come unto thee
And the power of the Highest
Shall follow overshadow thee,
Overshadow thee
And that Holy Child that shall be born
Ever shall be called He shall be called forever
Be called the Son of God
"Most troubled am I of all women...
I fear I may not sleep this night...."
**The Annunciation segues directly into Track 2, The Creatures of the Field :
And the creatures of the field
Waited in the silence of Gabriel's departing
And in the meadow kneeled
Still but for the sound of a frightened faun starting
'Til the owl said:
"Who raised up a clamor so harsh and deep?"
The owl said:
"Who caused gentle Mary to fret and weep?"
"Her window glows brightly
I fear that she cannot sleep."
Mary paced her room
(-unintelligible choir line)
Wishing that her heartbeat
Would cease its fearful pounding
Peered into the gloom
Silent as a tomb,
Not one distant drum sounding
As the owl said:
"Who caused such a stillness to mystify the earth-
And why?
See how she searches the darkened sky.
Who is there among us to sing her a lullaby?"
"Sing me a lullaby...."
**The next song, Track 3, is called Just a Simple Little Tune and is one of my favorite songs on the album:
The cricket raised his fiddle
And he said; "Though I am small
And I know I'll never be the greatest fiddler of them all
I've played it for the river and I've played it for the moon
I learned it from the stars it's just a simple little tune."
Then he raised his shiny bow as black as precious ebony
And he flourished it to play a spritey "fiddle diddle dee"
And he played it high and low and he played it in the middle
He played a simple tune on his tiny little fiddle.
(fiddle solo)
And the Nightingale sang a harmony
And she sang so sweet, and she sang so free
That the Meadowlark joined with a "Tweedle deedle dee"
"Tweedle dee dee dee dee.."
Till the fireflies danced in the willow trees
And lit the dismal night
Then the moon rose high in a silvery balloon
And the flop-eared hare danced a jig with a raccoon
And the bullmoose bellowed, like a cranky old bassoon,
And he said, "What's all the fuss? It's just a simple little tune.
Simple little tune... Simple little tune..."
But Mary smiled and from her troubles,
Unencumbered... Dimmed the light,
Closed her eyes and slumbered.
Part II
**Track 4 is called The Decree and it tells of Joseph and his meeting with the Angel Gabriel... It also tells of the beginning of their journey to Bethlahem:
Then Gabriel came and said to Joseph alone,
"Do not be afraid to make Mary your own.
But go to your betrothed and then be married-
The child is heaven sent."
And it came to pass that there went out a decree
From Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed
And each went to be taxed to his own city-
So Joseph also went, with his lady innocent...
With his lady innocent.
The lions in the mountains let them pass
And followed close by night to guard them
From Galilee to Bethlehem
She journeyed with only a donkey to ride
With Joseph walking beside came to David's city
While she was great with child
- great with child
Through a country dark and wild
Through a country dark and wild
And on the far horizon rose a strange and distant star-
As though to guide them
**Track Five Incredible Phat tells of a kind old cat, the Inn Keeper's Cat- who finds shelter for Mary
and Joseph, while still finding time to tell about the interesting people who grace his owner's Inn...
On the coldest night of the year
At a pub called, "The Elephant's Ear"
Incredible Phat, the Inn Keeper's cat
Was having a saucer of beer
With fourteen merry gentlemen
On the coldest night of the year
As the hour of eleven drew near
Some poor stranger in rags did appear
At the door of the Inn-
Face weary and thin-
To ask, "Is there any room here?"
But the owner just laughed and said,
"My friend, it's the coldest night of the year.
"We've a sheikh with three wives,
And a moneylender.
A taxman, a soldier, and a harness mender
Three balmy old coots in silver boots-
Two are stargazers and the other's a seer."
Out into the night crystal clear
The stranger went hiding a tear
And Incredible Phat, the Inn Keeper's cat,
Followed and saw standing near
A donkey bearing a pale, sweet girl
Through the coldest night of the year.
While the barmaid, the priest and the diplomat
Bought one last round for the acrobat
And a spy with no chin, who had also come in
From the cold, with Harod's surly charioteer.
But Phat said, "Friends be of good cheer!
For I know of a shelter that's near.
And he lead them out back to a tumbled down shack
Where the Inn Keeper's wife kept her steer.
And he said, 'It's the warmest place in town
On the coldest night of the year.
Yes he said, "It's the warmest place in town...
On the coldest night of the year."
Part III
** Next comes another of the songs that I like a whole lot, The Friendly Beasts, Track 6. This song is a 12th Century Carol...
Jesus our brother,
Strong and good
Was humbly borne in a stable rude
And the friendly beasts
- the friendly beasts
Around Him stood
Jesus our brother strong and good.
"I," said the donkey shaggy and brown
"I carried his mother up hill and down
I carried his mother to Bethlehem town.
I," said the donkey shaggy and brown.
"I," said the cow all white and red
"I gave him my manger for his head
I gave him my hay to pillow his head
Oh I," said the cow all white and red.
"I," said the sheep with the curly horn
"I gave him my wool for his blanket warm
He wore my coat on Christmas morn
Oh I," said the sheep with the curly horn.
"I," said the dove from rafters high
We cooed him to sleep my mate and I
We cooed him to sleep my mate and I
Oh I," said the dove from rafters high
And every beast by some good spell
In the stable dark was glad to tell
Of the gift he gave Emmanuel
The gift he gave Emmanuel.
**The next track, Track 7, is called The Song of the Camels , a song that I admit I didn't really like at first... It's from a poem
by Elizabeth Coatsworth:
Not born to the forest are we
Not born to the plain
To the grass and the shadowed tree
And the splashing of rain.
Only the sand we know
And the cloudless sky,
The mirage and the deep-sunk well
And stars on high
To the sound of our bells we came
With huge soft stride
Kings riding upon our backs
And the slave's at our side
Out of the east brought on by a dream of a star
Seeking the hills and the groves
Where the fixed towns are.
Our goal was no palace gate
No temple of old
But a child in his mother's lap
In the cloudy cold
The olives were windy and white
Dust swirled through the town
As all in their royal robes
Our masters knelt down
Then back to the dessert we paced in our phantom state
And faded again int he sands
That are secret as fate-
Portents of glory and danger our dark shadows lay
At the feet of the babe in the manger
And then drifted away...
**Track 8- which segues directly into track 9, is my favorite. It's called Words From an Old Spanish Carol:
Shall I tell you who will come
To Bethlehem on Christmas morn
Who will kneel gently down
Before the Lord
-before the Lord
Newborn?
Chorus:
One small fish from the river
With scales of red, red gold
One wild bee from the heather
One gray lamb from the fold
One ox from the high pasture
One black bull from the herd
One goatling from the far hills
One white, white bird
Repeat Chorus
Sung Counterpoint:
One large fish from the sea
Too shiny to behold
One tame moth from a tree
Stable stoled
One colt from the green meadow
One bear cub fat & furred
One goatling-
And one white, white bird
And many Children-
God gave them grace
Bringing tall candles
To light Mary's face
Repeat Chorus
First verse repeated and sung counterpoint to chorus
One bird...
White, white bird
White, white bird
top
** Track 8 immediately segues into Track 9, Carol of the Birds:
PART IV
** The next song is called The Frog , it's Track 10:
The frog hopped, silently, fearfully
in out from the chill of night
Covered with the shiny dew of morning
Carefully, he came to cause no fright to the Son of God a-borning
Since from his place upon the earth he could not see the manger
Tho' shy, he leaped into the air to see the little stranger
The beasts were outraged!
Angry that a frog so impolite
Would dare disturb the Holy Child's dreaming
"Get you far away and out of sight,
You are ugly and blaspheming.
And why do you not humbly bow,
And what gift are you bringing?"
The Frog then croaked,
"I come to God with only my rough singing
I came to sing for Jesus."
The animals laughed, "hahahaha" to think of such a joke
That a simple frog would be so odd as to come to God to croak
The animals laughed, "hahahahahaha"
That a simple frog would be so odd as to come to God to croak
Baby Jesus saw the frog and laughed with sheer delight
To see him hopping high through the stable
And Mary softly did him invite to sing the little boy's first fable
Light came down from heaven and around the frog was gleaming
And like an Angel sent from God
The lowly frog was singing
And he sang of logs and polliwogs
Of rafts and summer fishin;
Of morning frogs and puppy dogs
And places to go wishin'
Of misty bogs and swimming togs
and treasures laying deep.
And when the last note died away
The baby was asleep
And from that day on the frog was drawn to live high in the towers
Of pine and oak, no more to croak among the water flowers
But a tree frog he would always be whose voice could shame the bird
And they say that every Easter morn his voice can still be heard
top
PART V
** Track 11 is one my least favorite songs on the album, it's called Herod and it tells both of King Herod's command to have all the newborn infants slaughtered, and of Mary, Joseph and Jesus' escape to Egypt:
Herod the curious
Herod the curious
Herod the curious- was furious
In his Citadel on the hill
Herod the jealous one, dying without a son
Bade his soldiers drink his fill
Herod the hideous
Herod the hideous
Herod the hideous- perfidious
Lifted his demon voice evil and shrill
Loudly commanded them, "Go then to Bethlehem
All the newborn babes to kill"
And the jackals cackled "Chacka chaka chaka cha"
To think of such a lie
That the promised King of Israel was only born to die
But the rooster keeping vigil in the first still light of morning
Afar off saw a plume of dust and raised a din of warning in disgust:
"A nightmare's coming true! An army is in view!
King Herod does pursue!"
Herod vainglorious
Herod vainglorious
Herod vainglorious- victorious
Lashed his horses in wild pursuit
Closer and closer he came hate burning like a flame,
Raised his spear in mock salute
And out to the desolation of the dawning desert waste
They fled on a drowsy donkey
In confusion, yawning even in their haste.
And the animals looked on
As they faded in the dawn
And suddenly were gone
"Which way to Egypt then?
Which way to Egypt then?
Which way to Egypt then?" Joseph asked the donkey
lost in a storm of swirling sand
As from his chariot Herod Iscariot cast his eye across the land
top
** This is another example of one track flowing right into the next, for Herod moves directly into Track 12, Wild Geese:
Well, there you have it. Maybe some day I'll get adventurous and attempt to add some au files here, but for now, this is all that time, and energy will allow. I hope that someone out there appreciates this for something- even if it's only to steal my wallpaper. :)
I would like to thank Jen Bullock for her comments, input and constructive criticism throughout this entire webpage, especially her
help with this one. You're a goddess, Jen ;)
I want to thank my Dad for getting me a copy of the CD, and for forgiving me for losing the liner notes- I swear I don't know how it happened, Dad! And they would have
been SO helpful to have in making this page!!! :)
Amy Kuenzli
Thanks for stopping by. :)